How to Avoid Landlord Burnout
Owning and operating a rental property can be a rewarding and lucrative opportunity, as it can help to supplement your income and cover your mortgage payment. However, with the responsibilities involved with being a landlord, it can leave you feeling exhausted, both mentally and physically. As both Voltaire and the Spider-Man comics have been claimed to say, “With great power comes great responsibility,” the same can be applied to being a landlord. In order to combat landlord burnout before it happens, there are a few steps you can take to ensure that your responsibilities as a landlord are maintained without the turmoil that may accompany burnout as a rental property owner.
Sources of Stress and Landlord Burnout
Due to the nature of owning a rental property, it can be a stressful experience that can spread into other areas of your life. The amount of stress you experience can be increased if the property you own is older or needs frequent maintenance and/or dodgy locations which can attract difficult tenants. Likewise, if you have a stressful occupation or home life, it can bleed over and increase the stress attributed to your landlord responsibilities.
Symptoms of Landlord Burnout
As in other professions, burnout can lead to an increase of behaviors that may be detrimental to the overall actions that you take as a rental property owner, which can then affect your ability to cover your mortgage and other expenses associated with being a landlord. Some of the symptoms that may suggest that you could be experiencing landlord burnout include refraining from tending to maintenance of your rental property, a feeling of uneasiness that leads to driving by to check on the condition of your property, and feeling compelled to adding additional clauses in your lease agreement in an attempt to mitigate any tenant-related issues before they happen.
Ways to Prevent Landlord Burnout
While it may not be possible to avoid all sources of stress that can accompany being a landlord, there are a few key ways to reduce the likelihood of experiencing burnout. The folks over at Bigger Pockets suggest paying attention to some key areas can help you to become resilient when it comes to landlord burnout.
- Assess Your Finances
- When it comes to purchasing a rental property, make sure that you stick to the amount that fits in best with what you are able to successfully rent the property to tenants. If you overextend your finances, you may be able to purchase a nice property. However, doing such can lead to having to cover the difference between the amount at which you are able to obtain via rental income and the mortgage of the property.
- Real Estate Trends
- It is recommended that you become familiar with the housing trends in your area. Due to the variety of influences that can affect national real estate trends, it may be easy to be swept away with the larger picture, while overlooking what is happening in your neighborhood or the area in which your rental property resides.
- Research
- While this may seem like a no-brainer, conducting due diligence when it comes to researching your rental property location is an important aspect that can help in the reduction of developing landlord burnout.
- Identify Responsibilities
- Stress and responsibilities, both associated with being a landlord, can be significant factors in landlord burnout. However, don’t neglect taking inventory of your non-landlord sources of stress, such as your job or personal responsibilities, as these can also contribute to overall burnout.
Conclusion
Depending on your current situation, you may already be experiencing symptoms of landlord burnout. However, if this is the case, it is not too late. Becoming aware of the factors that can contribute to developing landlord burnout can help you to identify areas that you should explore. One such area to explore is the importance of delegating responsibilities. While it may be difficult to “hand over the reins,” so to speak, consulting with a property management company can help to take a load off, as well as reduce the stress that can accompany the ownership of a rental property.
